Public comments welcomed for 2 protected species

Saturday

Apr 26, 2014 at 12:00 PM

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe has announced the service will reopen the public comment in the near future on the proposed critical habitat and draft economic analysis for two federally protected mussel species found in 13 states, including Arkansas.

Submitted

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe has announced the service will reopen the public comment in the near future on the proposed critical habitat and draft economic analysis for two federally protected mussel species found in 13 states, including Arkansas.

Ashe made the announcement at a roundtable discussion on the service’s proposed critical habitat for the federally threatened rabbitsfoot mussel and the federally endangered Neosho mucket. More than 40 people attended the meeting, including representatives from many Arkansas groups, as well as several county judges and state representatives. Also at the meeting were the Service’s Southeast Regional Director Cindy Dohner and Arkansas Ecological Services Field Office Supervisor Jim Boggs.

The meeting was arranged by U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor’s office after Pryor invited Ashe to visit Arkansas to hear directly from citizens about their concerns over the proposed critical habitat. The timetable for the new public comment period has not been set. Once it is, two public meetings on the proposal will be scheduled. This will be the fourth round of public comment on the proposal since it was announced in September 2012. The first three public comment periods lasted a total of 150 days, during which the Service received 49 comments.

Ashe said the service’s decision to hold another public comment period was in response to a request from Pryor, as well as concerns raised by the Arkansas delegation and several organizations.

“I want to thank Sen. Pryor for the invitation to meet with Arkansas citizens to hear their perspectives on this proposal,” Ashe said. “We believe providing this additional time will lead to greater understanding of what the designation of critical habitat does and does not mean to those who enjoy and depend upon healthy aquatic natural resources. Together we can accomplish economic development and improve water quality for people while we conserve these imperiled species.”